Abstract
This study evaluates the efficacy of a school-based social cognitive intervention for children with autism. Seventy-four children and adolescents were taught visually scaffolded, theory of mind-based social skills program. Using a mixed-methods approach, children’s social competence was assessed at pre-test and post-test. Compared to a waitlist control group, children in the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater gains on theory-of-mind and social skill measures. Focus groups and interviews were conducted to explore parents’ views and generalization of children’s social skills across settings. Children’s social participation exhibited improvement in home, community, and school settings. The study findings offer promising evidence for a cost-effective program and support of the school-based social skills intervention for children with ASD in Hong Kong context.
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Acknowledgments
This study was completed by the first author in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a PhD degree in occupational therapy at Monash University under the supervision of the second, third, and fourth authors. The authors are grateful to Dr Cynthia Waugh for giving permission to use her social cognitive intervention. We would like to thank the parents and children who participated in the groups.
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PC designed the study and carried out the implementation. TB and MY helped supervised the project. AS contributed to the data anlaysis. PC wrote the manuscript with the support from TB, MY, and AS.
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Appendix A
Appendix A
Key informant intervention question schedule for parents of children with ASD.
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1.
Do you think the program is helpful to your child, and does it have any impact on your child’s social skills?
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Have you noticed any positive changes in your child’s behavior or social skills?
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3.
Have you noticed any changes in your child’s peer or social relationships?
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From your perspective, what were three positive features about the program your child took part in?
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From your perspective, what were three limitations of the program your child took part in?
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What are the areas of improvement in social participation for your child?
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What were some of the challenges and barriers, as related to relationship building with your child?? What were those faced by your family?
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8.
Do you have any suggestions about how the program could be improved?
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Cheung, P.P.P., Brown, T., Yu, Ml. et al. The Effectiveness of a School-Based Social Cognitive Intervention on the Social Participation of Chinese Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 1894–1908 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04683-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04683-1